Indonesia police apologises for using snake to terrorise suspect in interrogations

Indonesia police apologises for using snake to terrorise suspect in interrogations

This is the shocking moment police laugh as they interrogate a terrified suspect with a live snake.

Cops arrested the man over the weekend on suspicion of stealing smartphones in the Papua region of Indonesia.

They filmed the handcuffed suspect sitting on the ground with the 10ft long reptile wrapped around his neck.

He can be heard screaming as the officers chuckle and move the snake's head against his face.

Footage of the incident emerged yesterday (February 10) and sparked outrage from campaigners who accused the police of torturing the victim.

The police force made a ''very rare'' apology for the video but said the dark black rat snake was non-venomous and described it as a better alternative than beating the suspect.

They said it happened during a recent crackdown on petty crime in the Jayawijaya district of the region and the man was alleged to have stolen mobile phones.

Jayawijaya police chief Tonny Ananda Swadaya later said the officers had been disciplined by being given ethics training and moved to other locations.

A spokesman said: ''We apologize for the incident.

Institutionally we do not recognise such an unprofessional method of interrogation, and we guarantee that such an inhuman method will not happen again in the future.'' Human rights lawyer Veronica Koman said the interrogation methods were torture and violated police policies as well as several laws.

She said it was only the latest of several reports of police and military using snakes to terrorise Papuan detainees.